about Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, (French pronunciation: ?[??k vilnœv]; born April 9, 1971), is a Canadian professional auto racing driver and amateur musician. He is the son of Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle, who was also a racer. Villeneuve won the 1995 CART Championship, the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1997 Formula One World Championship, making him only the third driver after Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi to achieve such a feat. As of 2016, no other Canadian has won the Indianapolis 500 or the Formula One Drivers' title.

Following two successful years in CART, Villeneuve moved into Formula One with the front-running Williams team, alongside Damon Hill. In his debut season, Villeneuve challenged teammate Hill for the title, winning four races and taking the fight to the final round in Japan, where Villeneuve retired and Hill won the race, and the title. Villeneuve, however, did win the following year's title, this time challenging Michael Schumacher and once again taking it to the final round in Jerez, where Schumacher retired after the two collided.

1997 would be the last year in which Villeneuve would win a championship level race and finish the season in the top three. For 1998, Villeneuve's Williams team had to fare with less competitive Mecachrome engines, and Villeneuve moved to the newly formed British American Racing team in 1999. He stayed there for the next four seasons but, following poor results he was replaced by former British Formula Three Champion Takuma Sato. Villeneuve also drove for Renault at the end of 2004, and Sauber in the 2005 season and eleven races of the 2006 season before suffering an injury in Germany. Villeneuve was replaced by Robert Kubica and soon BMW and Villeneuve parted company.

Outside Formula One, Villeneuve has taken on several new careers: in sportscar racing, racing for Peugeot in the 2007 and 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans, jumping to NASCAR in August 2007 and racing as an invited driver in the Argentinian Top Race V6 series and the Australian-based International V8 Supercars Championship. As a musician, he has released an album titled Private Paradise.

As of 2016, Villeneuve adds Track Designer to his list of accomplishments with Area 27 Motorsports Park, a private membership-based motorsport club outside of Oliver, British Columbia, Canada. As one of four co-founders (including Trevor Seibert, David King, and Bill Drossos), Villeneuve led a collaboration with Seibert (engineer and builder) and Drossos (who had the idea initially) to design a 4.83 km/3 mi road circuit with 16 corners in the heart of British Columbia (south Okanagan) wine country. Area 27 officially opened in 2017.

news

2018-11-12 Villeneuve: Ocon an "embarrassment" for Verstappen clash

Ocon received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty after the clash at the Senna S with Verstappen while he was trying to unlap himself from the race leader. Villeneuve also cited past incidents involving the Force India driver, and suggested that he lacks racecraft. “Ocon is an embarrassment,” he told Motorsport.com. “That was ridiculous. And the worst bit is everyone has seen what ...

Williams has scored four points in 2018, all from Lance Stroll's eighth place finish in Azerbaijan, as it has struggled with an aerodynamic stall at the rear of its FW41 that is causing high-speed turn-in instability.Its rookie Sergey Sirotkin is the only driver yet to score a point in 2018 and last weekend Williams had to start both cars from the pitlane after abandoning a new rear ...

Raikkonen received a 10-second penalty at Silverstone after tapping Hamilton into a spin at the start, while Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel was given a five-second punishment for colliding with Bottas at the start of the French GP.Villeneuve believes Raikkonen’s penalty highlights the inconsistency of officials in Formula 1, and he thinks the Finn would have received a smaller ...

In 1978, Gilles Villeneuve, Jacques’ father, drove this very car to victory in the maiden Canadian Grand Prix to be held on the newly constructed Ile Notre-Dame circuit in Montréal. That was Gilles Villeneuve’s first of his six victories in F1.The car was then sold to Pink Floyd’s drummer Nick Mason. Unfortunately, the car was crashed during a demo (Mason was not driving it), but it ...

The Ferrari 312 T3, which the 1997 world champion has driven once before at the 2004 Goodwood Festival of Speed, will sit in front of the F1 grid before Sunday's race, where the ever-present 'Salut Gilles' wording at the start finish line has been altered to include '40 ans' for this weekend.When the drivers' parade begins, Villeneuve will lead the field of Austin Healeys carrying the ...

2018-05-24 Book review - “F1 in Montreal” - From Villeneuve to Hamilton

Through the best images of sports photographer Bernard Brault, the book takes the reader back to the first edition of the race held in October 1978 that saw local hero, Ferrari driver Gilles Villeneuve win his maiden Formula 1 race in front of his fans.Each chapter covers a specific era and is illustrated by some 30 stupendous photos, for a grand total of 300. Reading the book takes ...

Villeneuve recently suggested Robert Kubica might use his role as development driver to make the car more difficult to drive and compromise the performances of Stroll and teammate Sergey Sirotkin.Stroll, who has often been criticised by Villeneuve during his 12 months in F1, shrugged off the former champion's comments when they were put to him and explained ...

Ferrari lost one legend after the 1977 season when Niki Lauda left for Brabham, but gained a new one for the following year in Gilles Villeneuve.Driving the Ferrari 312T3, Villeneuve won his first grand prix on home soil in Canada and went on to become arguably the most famous driver in the marque’s history.Ranged against an army of Cosworth V8s, and BRM and Matra V12s, Ferrari's ...

The Williams driver was running 14th but ultimately finished 16th in the Brazilian Grand Prix after picking up a flat spot that caused his left-front tyre to delaminate and forced an extra pitstop.Teammate Felipe Massa, who is retiring at the end of the season, finished sixth on home soil to move back ahead of Stroll and into 10th in the drivers' championship with one race to go."It ...

Bottas claimed his third pole of the season but was passed by Vettel on the opening lap and failed to reclaim the position.He crossed the line 2.7 seconds adrift of Vettel but only 2.7s ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who started from the pits."It was a great drive from Vettel, he won it at the start," Villeneuve told Motorsport.com. "He was aggressive."When you see what ...

2017-11-07 When Gilles Villeneuve contested his first Grand Prix with McLaren in 1977

On February 21, 1977, Gilles Villeneuve signed a contract with McLaren while pursuing his career in North America, competing in the Formula Atlantic series against the likes of Keke Rosberg, Bobby Rahal, Bill Brack and F1 racers such as Didier Pironi, Jacques Laffite and Patrick Depailler.The contract mentioned, “McLaren wants to enter the services of the Driver [Gilles Villeneuve] to ...

The Canadian, who won his sole title 20 years ago, says that Hamilton relaxed too much when Valtteri Bottas arrived as replacement for his previous title rival Nico Rosberg.Rosberg beat Hamilton to the title last year before retiring from the sport."Lewis is really, really good," said Villeneuve. "He's only ever been in the best team with the best car, or close to it, like every ...

And the season concluded with one of the most memorable and controversial finales in F1 history at Jerez. In the end it was Villeneuve who claimed his maiden crown and the last for Williams.The Canadian became a victim of one of Schumacher's dirty tactics, but manager to steer clear and secure enough points to clinch the title.

2017-10-26 Untold story: When Schumacher met Villeneuve in the bar after Jerez

That day, Michael Schumacher ended up in the gravel after a clumsy blocking move on Villeneuve backfired, leaving the Canadian free and clear to secure the title. Three years after his clash with Damon Hill in Adelaide, Schumacher was again under fire from all sides.What is less well known is what happened later that evening – and how Schumacher attempted to smooth the waters with the ...

2017-10-26 Untold story: When Schumacher met Villeneuve in the bar after Jerez

That day Michael Schumacher ended up in the gravel after a clumsy blocking move on Villeneuve backfired, leaving the Canadian free and clear to secure the title. Three years after his clash with Damon Hill in Adelaide, Schumacher was again under fire from all sides.What is less well known is what happened later that evening – and how Michael attempted to smooth the waters with the new ...

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